Women have to work 14 years extra to earn what men do

The findings come from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and XpertHR’s analysis of the National Management Salary Survey. The organisations’ analysis of 68,000 professional workers found that female executives suffer a “mid-life pay crisis”, with women aged 46 to 60 earning an average of £16,680 a year less than men in the same age range.

Ann Francke, CMI chief executive, said: “Lower levels of pay for women managers cannot be justified, yet our extensive data shows the pay gap persists, with many women hit by a ‘mid-life pay crisis’.

“Women and men should be paid on the basis of their performance in their particular roles, but this is clearly not yet the case for far too many. It’s not right that women would have to work until almost 80 for the same pay rewards as men.

“We have to stamp out cultures that excuse this as the result of time out for motherhood and tackle gender bias in pay policies that put too much emphasis on time served.”

The gap hits women harder later in their careers, with the gender pay difference across all ages standing at £9,062, with women earning on average £30,392 compared with £39,461 for men – some 23pc less.

The practice continues when it comes to bonuses, with male directors receiving an average payout of £53,010, while their female colleagues are handed £41,956.

Mark Crail, head of salary surveys at XpertHR, said: “The data shows that women begin to fall behind at the age when they are most likely to be starting a family, and it just gets worse from then on.

“It appears that employers often give up on women in mid-career and are missing out on a huge pool of untapped knowledge, experience and talent.”

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